A zoo is desperate for donations amid fears many of its animals may starve or have to be euthanised as a result of the coronavirus lockdown.

Those behind the Fenn Bell Conservation Project, in St Mary Hoo, are worried that without public support they may have to make the tough decision of either letting animals starve or put them to sleep.

Andy Cowell, who owns the zoo and pub, said: "I've had so many sleepless nights over the last few weeks, trying to come up with a way to keep the zoo running without visitor donations, ticket sales or the pub and restaurant open.

"It costs us £2,000 a week to feed all of our animals, and although we've received the government grant after we closed the pub and furloughed our staff, it's not enough.

"We may be closed to the public but that doesn't mean the animals stop eating, we still need to care for them. Me, my wife, Kelly and daughter Sydnee are working at the zoo constantly. I've been working 100 hours a week, for nothing, just to keep these animals going.

"Sainsbury's has kindly been donating some food to us, which is great, and we really appreciate it, but with have lemurs, monkeys and fishing cats, just to name a few, who all have special dietary needs that these donations just aren't fulfilling."

Fenn Bell zoo has 120 animals and 40 different species which have come through rescue or from other zoos and holds Medway's first zoo licence.

The 51-year-old said: "I hate begging – I really do – but we will run out of money. I appreciate people are dying and my heart goes out to everyone struggling in these hard times, but the animals we keep here, they didn't ask for this situation.

"I feel like the government has forgotten about us, the big zoos will have grants and funding, and they will be able to continue when all of this finishes, but us smaller places have no chance, we rely on public donations.

"We've gone through Easter, our first money making season of the year, with nothing because of the lockdown and as a result we've had to make a plan about what's the sensible thing to do with our animals.

"We may have to make the difficult decision to euthanise some of the animals to give the rest a chance. It's that or they starve.

"I've not slept for three days just thinking about it, it's so hard.
"I don't want to come across as if I'm bleating or moaning, I know others have it just as hard or more so with everything that's going on with the virus, but I just don't know what else to do."

The zoo has its own GoFundMe page which was set up by a member of the public and so far, it's raised almost £1,500.

However in the three weeks this took to raise, Andy spent £6,000 of his own money to feed the animals, and that's without staff wages.

He said: "We are so grateful for all the money we have received so far, we can't say thank you enough, but we are racking up so much debt.

"If it's not the animals' food it's the electricity bills or maintenance work. We'll have so much debt when this is all over, I don't know if we'll make it through the winter.

"There are people who have donated, £50, £100 and £500 a time which is amazing but I don't want people to stretch themselves.

"I made an announcement on our Facebook page the other day about the predicament we were in.

"Around 18,000 saw the post, and I just thought, if each of those people gave a pound, just a pound then we'd have enough money to last us until June at least.

"We don't want masses of money from a few people. If many could give a little, then just maybe we could make this through to the other side."

Andy has been the owner of the Fenn Bell Inn and zoo for five years.

He has invested all his money into the project and now works with schools on education trips and other zoos on conservation projects.

He has made no profit over the past three years, all in the hope of giving something back to the Medway Towns .

He said: "I hate to seem like I'm begging, but there is really little left we can do, I don't want to euthanise our animals, but I don't see another alternative to them starving.

"The support from the public has been amazing but it's the money we need.

"Small zoos in local communities are struggling, and the coronavirus will ruin them.

"I hate to admit it, I'm very stubborn, I didn't even want to set up the GoFundMe page, but it would be good if we could get some help.

"We are stuck in this situation and there is nothing else I can do."

Andy's pleas echo a number of wildlife and conservation centres across the county which are in dire need of donations to see them through the Covid-19 lockdown.

Andy said: "Regardless of what we manage to raise, if we reopen when all of this is over, we'll open on the first weekend for free, to say thank you to everyone who's helped and donated."

If you would like to support Andy and The Fenn Bell Conservation Project visit the Go Fund Me page, here.

Update: After less than a day of appearing on KentOnline the appear has raised more than £20,000

For more information about the zoo visit their webiste, or Facebook page.

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